Switzlerland beat Netherlands in the Davis Cup

Just thought I'd do a quick post to recap Rogers performances this weekend in the Davis Cup against the Netherlands where Switzerland won the tie 3-1. Roger won both his singles rubbers against Thiemo de Bakker (former Wimbledon Junior champion) and against Robin Haase, a talented shotmaker. He and Wawrinka lost the doubles in pretty poor fashion but in the end it didn't matter as they won the World Group Qualifier pretty convincingly.

To be honest I have little interest in Davis Cup as it's just a run of the mill type event that players sometimes feel obliged to play in, but seen as thought we only saw Roger play 4 matches at the US Open and he's not playing any more tennis until Shanghai I thought I'd recap so here goes:

Federer def. De Bakker 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

I only watched the highlights of this match but it was clear Roger has transitioned from hard courts to clay in pretty quick fashion. As you can see in the image above the conditions were cold and wet (vest weather) so not really conducive to high quality tennis but Roger managed to get the job done and still came up with some awesome shots.

He was on top throughout the match, lost his serve a couple of times but always managed to regroup and got the job done in straights to get Switzerland off to the peRFect start.

On the serve, it can play tricks on you,” Federer said of the gusty wind. “The ball, after you tossed it, it was moving away from you and you had to adjust the whole time. So to find a way to move the serve was pretty difficult.

Haase & Rojer def. Federer & Wawrinka 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3

Again this was another match I didn't watch and I only managed to catch the last game where Fedrinka lost in 4 sets.

From the highlights it looked a poor performance and they were outsmarted by the Dutch guys who just looked more tactically aware on the doubles court.

We never panicked even when Switzerland won the third set. We stayed concentrated throughout the match,” said Haase.
Rojer added: “It's fantastic. To beat Federer, even in doubles, will remain an extraordinary experience.

To be honest I think Fed and Stan are a pretty weak doubles pairing as they're really not that bothered about it. Roger said recently in a press conference that they rarely practice together and who can blame them? Doubles isn't interesting and it's filled with players who aren't good enough to win at singles. Roger also said in that presser the only time they practiced a lot was in Beijing and what happened there? They beat the Bryan brothers who are supposedly the Ultimate doubles pairing. Says it all and it must be hard to be overly interested in playing it!

Federer def. Haase 6-1 6-4 6-4

This was the first match I saw in full and it was a total routine for Roger. Haase is a consistent ball striker but a known choker and when you're up against the GOAT in a must win match you know that's going to factor one way or another.

Conditions looked a little easier than Friday's match against De Bakker and Roger was just too solid throughout the match and never looked like he was trouble. Haase had 7 break point chances but couldn't take any of them and Roger was always just one step ahead of the Dutchman.

He served really well and mixed up his play which always gets the crowd going. They desperately wanted Haase to win a set but ultimately he just didn't have enough to find a way to break through and was constantly under pressure on his own serve which made it almost impossible to ever get any kind of momentum.

Few pictures from the Weekend

Not quite acclimatised after spending 2 weeks in the heat of New YorkFed with the Swiss FanspeRFection Backhand

He made the final in 2010 (albeit playing like a clown against Murray) so I think he can play well there. He has a lot of fans in that part of the world so I'm sure he will have the full backing of the crowd which could help. I won't call it a must win but it'd definitely help him achieve the year end number 1 which would be huge.

Hopefully the courts play fast (I think they do), maybe not like a Dubai but certainly not as slow as Miami so it could be a good event for Fed.

Huge fan of Roger Federer - I'll pretty much try and watch all his matches from Grand Slam level right down to ATP 250. When I'm not watching or tweeting about tennis I play regularly myself and use this blog to share my thoughts on Fed and tennis in general.

19 Comments

Hi Jo,
good post from you again and yes ,as you said we won’t call it a must win but it’d definitely help him achieve the year end number 1 for sure.
How about Murray?he is clearly become favorate since he won the USO and talked about him everywhere like princes.he is defending champ past 2 years there.
Thank you.

Hopefully Fed will gain confidence from getting back into the World Group, just as he did last year.
I think Roger will do well in Shanghai – it was his best tournament of 2010 up to the final – after all, he did beat Seppi, Isner, Soderling, and Djokovic before losing to Murray.

Davis Cup is an utter bore and I can’t wait to see how Shanghai plays out. I think Federer knows that every tournament is crucial from here on out if he is to retain the number one spot. I look foward to the indoor swing and I feel Roger will be confident and fresh.

Yeah agreed, although I saw some vids today that made me realise that it’s good for the fans to see their countrymen playing together. And for nations that don’t host big tournaments to see big name playes. Hopefully he plays Shanghai and plays well!

“Doubles isn’t interesting and it’s filled with players who aren’t good enough to win at singles.” If I try telling that to most guys at my club who love doubles, they would beat me black and blue 🙂
I personally do not like doubles at all though.
Good post. Thought I’d check it out because I’ve been hiding since that loss to Berdych. But now I’m back LOL

Quick questions though: Are the British done performing ******** on Murray yet? 😉 Is he going to be knighted soon? Are the billboards all plastered with his face? Is he giving anatomy lectures to upcoming tennis players? Has the clock for “the last British man to have won a slam” started counting up? Maybe this time it should accommodate three digits. And what happens to Henman hill now? Sorry, didn’t mean to offend anybody!

The only reason I play doubles is because I like being the guy at the net. Its great practice for your volleys and more space to hit different angles and stuff. Only good thing about Davis Cup is the playoffs and stuff are held in like non ATP tournament locations like local club courts, its cheaper for fans and easier to access because some live far away from big ATP tournament locations.

I know it doesn’t matter in the long run, as Fed has already achieved all his goals for this year, but I really want him to keep the #1 at the end of the year. Unfortunately it’s virtually impossible if Djokovic doesn’t tank again. Although the Serb has played more tennis this summer than Roger.

Hi, really great blog Jonathan. On the subject: I expect Federer to cancel shanghai…he clearly said he was wounded and needed the rest.
I think he would benefit from a longer break (like last year and after Miami this year). He will problably lose the no.1 though, a pity. He kind of blew it at the US Open (damn you Berdych).

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About peRFect Tennis

Hey, I’m Jonathan. I started up peRFect Tennis back in May 2011 because I wanted to be able to share my thoughts on Tennis, and on my favourite player Roger Federer.

I first took notice of Fed back in 2001 when he beat Sampras at Wimbledon. Back then, like most Brits I was a Henman fan, clinging onto the belief he could still win Wimbledon.In fact, I was actually glad Tim beat Roger at Wimbledon that year!

Ever since then though, I’ve followed Federer’s career closely, been lucky enough to see him play live on several occasions and now use this blog to analyse matches, make predictions, and share everything and anything Federer related.

If you want to learn abit more about peRFect tennis and what to expect from my blog, then head over to my about page.